i am a new manufacturer and havent really done alot of market research. im in the Army, transitioning out back into the real world. i am 25 this coming june, so i am just really interested in how much ammo people buy. i just bought a Camndex machine and am awaiting assembly and delivery. this may be a good time to figure out how much time it will take to get me out of the hole. i will just auto load 556 and hand load pistol calibers for now... good old dillion press. i want to sell 100k rounds a month, i plan to actually get this damn website up and running, and hopefully get on ammo seek as well. i jumped in with both feet and am not nervous at all, just a little scared out of my mind lol.

rough layout of prices once im in full swing...all per 1k

556 -350
9mm -225
.40sw- -300
45 - -320

all jacketed of course, most likely all hollows, i just like to load hollows lol.

any feedback is great please let me know.. with online and local sales aka calguns, craigslist ect... do you think i will make 100k goal each month? ASSUMING i can keep up with the orders that is... maybe 50k? just wondering who buys what. i will prob just end up throwing it out there on the market and seeing whats what. i am out of operation as i am in El Paso Tx and moving back to Sacramento, all my equip is in route home and i have to get re zoned back in cali, it will be a while. thanks again guys

It's hard to make a living reloading bulk common cartridges. This is a good time to be in the business IF you have an excellent supply line already established. But, that doesn't happen with start up companies. More than a few here have tried, established a decent customer base and then failed. Freakshow and Jack Ross are two examples. Good luck in your venture. But, realistically, be prepared to fail unless, you find a niche market to tap.

Good luck to you brother. If once you get rolling and you expand to include 762 NAT0 hit me back. I'd take 2k rounds for sure! I think it's great you're already set up for post service life. Right on man.

Seems like the biggest failure is when startups get all excited taking orders then eventually figure out there's no way in hell they can fill the order. And worse, they take the order, charge the buyer's cc then 'something' happens and they can't fill the order and can't refund the money.

That's pissed off a lot of buyers. I'd say don't accept orders for anything you don't have on the shelf ready to ship.

Seems like the biggest failure is when startups get all excited taking orders then eventually figure out there's no way in hell they can fill the order. And worse, they take the order, charge the buyer's cc then 'something' happens and they can't fill the order and can't refund the money.

That's pissed off a lot of buyers. I'd say don't accept orders for anything you don't have on the shelf ready to ship.

i have also been burned MANY times this way and it is the worse. i agree, that it is horrible business practice. it will be a challenge taking web orders, since i would have to baby sit the damn thing all the time updating stock quantities and all. i will just have to figure it out as i go. maybe just start with f2f meetings from here and CL (whoops). but hey, it is what it is. maybe phone orders? i dont know. blahhh

Seems like the biggest failure is when startups get all excited taking orders then eventually figure out there's no way in hell they can fill the order. And worse, they take the order, charge the buyer's cc then 'something' happens and they can't fill the order and can't refund the money.

That's pissed off a lot of buyers. I'd say don't accept orders for anything you don't have on the shelf ready to ship.

Yes, this to the extreme.
Don't take back orders period.

You might ought to start now ordering your supplies and get them pre positioned.
Stay off CL, you have a ready made market here as long as you can keep a positive customer service reputation.

We have a CGSSA Chapter up in Sac that will keep you busy. In fact there are a couple of outfits up there you may be able to strike up a deal and utilize the facilities in a partnership style setup. Get rolling sooner without ALL the headaches.

You will no doubt have an interesting adventure with the Planning Commission and various Zoning laws/rules (that's code for 'bring money').

You have been in business in El Paso, Tx? Have you a track record of sales? Are you loading to SAMMI specs? Are you a member?

The closest thing we have to El Paso is Arizona. Since Sac is home you might setup shop in Nevada, UPS still delivers ammo here.

Still, keep ordering your supplies and get them on site somewhere.

I am looking forward to your success

Vick

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"Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more." (George Patton)

You might ought to start now ordering your supplies and get them pre positioned.
Stay off CL, you have a ready made market here as long as you can keep a positive customer service reputation.

We have a CGSSA Chapter up in Sac that will keep you busy. In fact there are a couple of outfits up there you may be able to strike up a deal and utilize the facilities in a partnership style setup. Get rolling sooner without ALL the headaches.

You will no doubt have an interesting adventure with the Planning Commission and various Zoning laws/rules (that's code for 'bring money').

You have been in business in El Paso, Tx? Have you a track record of sales? Are you loading to SAMMI specs? Are you a member?

The closest thing we have to El Paso is Arizona. Since Sac is home you might setup shop in Nevada, UPS still delivers ammo here.

Still, keep ordering your supplies and get them on site somewhere.

I am looking forward to your success

Vick

lots of questions here lol but all for my benefit no doubt!
i have not been tracking my sales really, mostly been to friends and family out this way, yes SAMMI specs, not a member? that i am aware of anyways. i have been thinking of setting up in reno as its not far...but i talked to the sacramento chapter of the ATF and i will be ok on my land...looking between sac and san fran... lots of farming acrage. but anyways, they said that it is not strict on building codes anyways, i think that the storage of hazmat and flammable will be the issue? i talked to the manager of sac valley range and tried to throw a potential sales pitch at them, nice guy that said he wants to meet up, not high hopes but you never know, right? CL is kind of below the belt, and i know that. but whatever puts food on the table. im retiring from the army so i will have a steady income either way, and i have my BA already so thas out of the way too. so i have nothing but time ...i wish money, but i will make it happen! i hope anyways that is. keep it coming.

First post and joined 2.5 years ago! MSNM, that should tell you about demand right now.

LOL ! you guys are all awesome. i have a couple of Dillon 1050s now, i load small scale, about10-20k pistol a week. i had 25K 556 READY TO GO and it all sold like...immediately. i am not into charging panic prices AT ANY TIME. distributor prices have NOT gone up, so why would mine? i am aiming for long term customers. not just get in some cheap shots whille the getting is good. EXAMPLE i just sold some 30 rd MAGAZINE "KITS" i had to go up a little because my supply went up, but at $13 each you cant tell me thats a horrible deal. just need a few dollars in the fund for MORE EQUIPMENT!! yay.

Tagged.You better not edit your prices! In for 2k .556 1k .45! Quote my post with prices on this thread. Just in case!

556 -350
9mm -225
.40sw- -300
45 - -320

suck it! lol im just kidding. but i feel these prices are fair. and im sure at some point in time they will have to go up, but until MY price for the COMPONENTS becomes outrageous, it wont happen so no worries. after this all blows over (i hope) everything will go back to normal and my prices will be considered moderate instead of great. so i see no need to raise them. too much politics for me. im 25 this summer, i have a wonderful wife, and i dont do this for the money, dont get me wrong, the money is great. but as a Disabled Vet, i just do it because there is no one else out there doing it the right way. i believe i CAN do it better, and i believe i AM doing it better. i am a ONE MAN SHOW that loves using all caps hehe, but i have low overhead so i am not going to charge like i have a high overhead.

Assuming you can meet demand, you should have no problem selling a crap-ton of ammo. The problem is getting the materials to do so, and having sufficient production to meet the demand.

__________________
It was not a threat. It was an exaggerated response to an uncompromising stance. I was taught never to make a threat unless you are prepared to carry it out and I am not a fan of carrying anything. Even watching other people carrying things makes me uncomfortable. Mainly because of the possibility they may ask me to help.

suck it! lol im just kidding. but i feel these prices are fair. and im sure at some point in time they will have to go up, but until MY price for the COMPONENTS becomes outrageous, it wont happen so no worries. after this all blows over (i hope) everything will go back to normal and my prices will be considered moderate instead of great. so i see no need to raise them. too much politics for me. im 25 this summer, i have a wonderful wife, and i dont do this for the money, dont get me wrong, the money is great. but as a Disabled Vet, i just do it because there is no one else out there doing it the right way. i believe i CAN do it better, and i believe i AM doing it better. i am a ONE MAN SHOW that loves using all caps hehe, but i have low overhead so i am not going to charge like i have a high overhead.

Well, let me know if you want sone help. I work for you and you can pay me in ammo. How's that? Willing to help one of my brothers in arms!

You didn't ask for it, but I'm going to give you some advice. I'm also 24, and have been running my own business for the last two years. I own a flight school with two airplanes, three other instructors, and a full time office manager. We're planning on adding another airplane this year, and things are going well.

All my advice is take it or leave it, and probably worth what you paid for it.

If you can stay at your location in Sacramento, definitely do that. Seems like it will keep you overhead much lower.

If you don't have a web host already, I really like Dreamhost. Also make sure you're backing up your site.

I've never used wordpress as an e-commerce platform, I hear it's not great for that. Which brings me to my next point:

Don't even worry about online orders and stock. You're right, you'd be at the computer all the damn time updating stock. If I was you, I'd make a simple website with a page for each of your types of ammo and a page about you and where you make it. Your customer base loves that kind of stuff.

On every ammo page is the current estimated wait time for that ammo. Also on every page is a contact form where someone can type in what they'd like, name, phone number, email and how they'd like to be contacted. Every morning, transfer the data in the emails in to a spreadsheet. Then make ammo all day.

Maybe also give them a phone call (only if they're okay with that. People can be private about everything). They then have 48 hours to pay up and you'll ship it out. If they don't pay in that time, it just goes on to the next person.

With this set up, you'll never have to worry about shopping cart software. You won't have to set up a credit card merchant (which is an expensive PITA), you can just use Google. Your in person orders, online and phone orders will all integrate well. Everything just goes into that spreadsheet (which you're backing up right?). Also makes it easy if you hire anyone to help in production.

You're not going to be able to go toe to toe with some giant manufacturer. Beat them on service and simplicity.

As a personal not, I would also not bring up your age. It can really only hurt you, that's been my experience. Also, start typing better. Get some punctuation and capitalization in there.

These sort of businesses (small time ammo manufacturing, small flight schools) fail all of the time because people don't run them like a real business. Don't make that mistake, and I really think you could do well. Good luck!

all jacketed of course, most likely all hollows, i just like to load hollows lol.

For jacketed hollows, I'd take 1K of the .40sw as a first order. Let us know when you are up and running. Once I have had a chance to put these rounds through my glock and S2K (and also with a buddy's other 40s) with no/little issues, then I will buy more.